In terms of CO2 bikes with decent performance are pretty awful for their size. They aren't much better (and are often worse) than a small car and a high proportion of performance bike miles are done 'going for a blast' rather than going somewhere in particular.
In terms of regulated pollutants they're behind as well. Cars and trucks are at Euro 4 emissions level and Euro 5 is on the horizon.
In their benefit they cut congestion, so urban pollution is reduced.
There are rumblings about restricting bike size / power / number of cylinders but, because there's a lot less of them, the overall contribution to air quality improvement will be less, so governments are tackling higher priorities. My guess is that in about 5 years time (when Euro 6 is close for cars and trucks) bike emissions will be significant enough for more drastic measures to be introduced.
Cheers Keith
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